BRIDGEPORT - The young Stratford woman held her hand to her face Friday morning in an effort to hide the long, red scars running from temple to chin.

Across the courtroom the man who had repeatedly stabbed her, her former boyfriend Nelson Santiago, stood waiting to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin.

“You came from New York, lay in wait for this young woman, stalked her and now she has permanent damage. You have a lot to atone for,” Devlin told the 20-year-old Santiago sentencing him to 16 years, suspended after he serves seven years in prison and followed by five years’ probation.

In a statement read by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Zingaro, the victim recalled how she had just come home after doing a double shift at work on the night of July 10, 2017, and had been out walking her dog when Santiago, 20, of Brooklyn, N.Y., confronted her with a knife.

Police said Santiago repeatedly stabbed the woman in the face and body as she screamed for help.

“I’m very blessed to be alive,” the victim said in her statement. “I will always have the scars to remind me of what happened, all I ask for is justice.”